A succulent, glabrous, deciduous climber up to 8 m long, quadrangular 4-winged, dichotomously branched; tendrils long, slender, simple. Leaves simple, alternate, thick coriaceous, broadly ovate or reniform, apex rounded, base cuneate, margins crenate-serrate; petioles 6 to 12 mm long; stipules small, broadly ovate; tendrils simple, leaf-opposed. Flowers small, greenish-white, borne in shortly pedunculate, leaf opposed cymes with umbellate branches; calyx cup-shaped, truncate; petals 4, ovate-oblong, acute 3 mm long, hooded at apex. Fruit berry, globose or obovoid, succulent, apiculate, very acrid, red when ripe. Seed 1.

Analgesic and stimulates the cardiovascular system (aerial part); diuretic and stimulates uterine contractions during childbirth (stem).

Phytogenic steroids, sitosterol, ketosteroids, S-amyrone, S-amyrin and triterpenoids (plant).

Bone healing (plant and stem); asthma (stem); stimulating gastric acid secretion (young shoots and leaf); irregular menstruation, dyspepsia, indigestion, piles, worms, gout, syphilis, venereal diseases, leucorrhoea and anorexia.

Sharma, Classical Uses of Medicinal Plants.